DUBAI: The Dubai Police have arrested a jobless Arab national for blackmailing girls through social networks and chatting apps. He reportedly threatened a girl with publishing private photos of her on porno websites unless she paid him money.

The Dubai Police received a tip-off on their email from a girl identified as WM, Arab, about how she was threatened and blackmailed by a person, NSH, whom she knew via Facebook. She asked the police to protect her from that man since she had already paid him, but he continued blackmailing her to get more money.

Director of the CID Brigadier Salem Al Rumaithi directed the teams of the anti-cyber crimes to investigate and locate the blackmailer. The police found that the blackmailer was working for a service firm in the country, but had been suspended from work five months ago due to a brawl with a roommate.

The security teams succeeded in locating the suspect and arrested him at his residence. They interrogated a roommate of the suspect, who confirmed that the NSH was blackmailing WM and took $2,000 from her. He then threatened her again and asked for more money, but she was not able to pay to him more, the roommate added.

The suspect confessed to the crime. He said that he had known the girl via Facebook. Later they spoke on Skype, through which he snapped the screen while on the video call and used those screen shots to blackmail her. He demanded money, otherwise he would publish those pictures on social networks, porno websites and share it with her friends. She transferred $2,000 to him, but he later asked her to give him more money. He gave her a few days’ time to provide the money, but he was surprised by the police arresting him.

The suspect has been referred to the judicial department on the charges of threatening and blackmailing others via social networking sites, Al Rumaithi added.